[RC] Fwd: Kepler's Hedgehog

[Dr. Ernie Prabhakar]

Hi all,

I just sent the following email (via his assistant Stefanie) to Jim  
Collins, the author of "From Good to Great."   I've been feeling for  
a long time that several recent books have been leading towards the  
idea of a new, coherent theory of business:

* Malcom Gladwell: The Tipping Point
* Seth Godin:  All Marketers are Liars (The Power of Authentic Stories)
* Jim Collins: From Good to Great; Built to Last
* Clay Christensen: The Innovator's Dilemma
* Peter Senge: The Fifth Discipline (Systems Thinking)
* John Mackey: Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business  
(Reason article/debate)

In "From Good to Great" (GTG), Jim Collins described how great  
businesses summarized their deep understanding in a single, concise  
statement.  He called it their "Hedgehog Concept."

http://www.jimcollins.com/lab/hedgehog/

The point of my letter is that he has not (yet) summarized all *his*  
understanding in a single 'hedgehog.'  To be sure, that isn't his  
goal, or perhaps even his skillset: he's merely trying to summarize  
what the data teaches us, not drive transformation throughout the  
business world.  Still, *I* am, so I figure I may as well ask, if for  
no other reason than courtesy.

Looking through all these books, a few themes continually jump out:

a) Paradoxes
b) Second-order thinking (feedback loops, unintended consequences, etc.)
c) Communities that create mutual value

I think there really is a *there* there.  If Jim doesn't know what it  
is, I'd love to get all these folks in a room to hash that out!   
Failing that, I'll probably have to do it myself...

-- Ernie P.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ernest Prabhakar

Subject: Kepler's Hedgehog

Hi Stefanie,

I have a curious -- if somewhat unfair -- question to ask Mr.  
Collins. He probably can't (and maybe shouldn't) answer it, but I  
believe it needs to be asked.

Don't get me wrong; I'd like to think I'm Jim's biggest fan -- though  
I'm sure I have lots of competition. :-)
   * As a former physicist [1], I admire the rigor and objectivity of  
his research.
   * "Built to Last" was an island of clarity during my two years  
amidst the chaos of management consulting [2].
   * And practically every day, I reflect on how well "From Good to  
Great" captures the realities
      of my life as a Marketing Manager in Silicon Valley [3].

Given how much he has already blessed me and the industry, it feels  
churlish to ask for more -- especially since this question may well  
lie outside the "power center" [4] of his personal 'passion,  
proficiency, and profit.' Yet, it is those very accomplishments which  
beg the question:

					Where's the hedgehog?

That is, the end result of his research always seems to be a  
collection of separate and distinct principles: a half-dozen or so  
from BTL, and at least as many in GTG. Those hard-won insights are  
incredibly valuable additions to our "bag of tricks" as managers and  
leaders -- and we are better people because of them! Yet, Jim himself  
taught us that enduring transformational change comes not from a  
plethora of tricks, but deep understanding conceptualized in a  
radically simple "hedgehog" that informs everything we do.

So, what is the unifying, actionable concept underlying all his  
discoveries, the second-order principle that captures the essence of  
his other principles?

He seemed to be groping towards this at the end of Good to Great,  
using the Flywheel + Disciplined {People, Thoughts, Actions} as an  
overarching summary.  But even that didn't capture the BHAG in three  
circles, or the importance of core values, or... you get the idea.   
It was still just a collection, not a hedgehog.

Of course I realize Jim has a hedgehog for *his* business. But, I'm  
looking for more: perhaps the hedgehog for *all* business!

In a sense, Jim feels to me like a Tycho Brahe [5]: his painstaking  
measurements using modern tools provided a mountain of high-quality  
raw data, highlighting the weakness of the dominant model. But  
where's the Kepler who will integrate these diverse insights into a  
few simple Laws tied into a single revolutionary Model [6]? Where's  
the Grand Unified Theory of business -- of human systems -- that fits  
all Jim's gems of wisdom into a single piece of jewelry?

As I said before, maybe this isn't his question to answer, given his  
admirable focus on only what is empirically provable. But it is a  
question he's taught us to ask, so I'd love to at least know whether he:

	a) acknowledges the validity of the question
	b) can connect me with anyone else asking it
	c) has any thoughts about how to find The Answer

I have my own thoughts, but I would first like to hear his.

Respectfully yours,
Ernie Prabhakar

[1] Ph.D. '95 in Experimental Particle Physics, California Institute  
of Technology; S.B. '88, MIT

[2] Boston Consulting Group (LA Office), 1995-97, with a focus on the  
BCG/HOLT Valuation Model

[3] As Apple's Product Manager for Open Source and Web 2.0, on a  
mission to rationalize irrational markets

[4] The "power center," or "radical center," is the unique  
mathematical point defined by any three overlapping circles
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_center

[5] Tycho Brahe, the meticulous Danish astronomer who mentored  
Johannes Kepler
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_Brahe

[6] In this example, the heliocentric solar system characterized by  
Kepler's Three Laws of Motion.
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliocentrism
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler#Scientific_work